There’s plenty of things that can sink a campaign. But this takes the cake.
Because a Democrat candidate’s secret messages were exposed and they aren’t pretty.
Resurfaced Posts Spark Controversy for Senate Candidate
Graham Platner, a Democratic Senate candidate challenging Gov. Janet Mills in the primary to face Republican Senator Susan Collins, faces intense scrutiny over inflammatory social media posts uncovered by CNN’s KFile.
The posts, primarily from Reddit, reveal Platner identifying as a “communist” and making derogatory remarks about police and white Americans. In a 2021 post on the “antiwork” subreddit, the veteran and oyster farmer wrote, “I got older and became a communist.”
That same year, on a Marine Corps subreddit, he described himself as a “vegetable growing, psychedelics taking social these days,” adding, “still got the guns though, I don’t trust the facsists [sic] these days,” referencing his military background.
Other posts include blunt criticisms, such as, “Living in white rural America, I’m afraid to tell you they actually are,” about white Americans, and “Bastards. Cops are bastards. All of them, in fact.”
Past Comments Fuel Political Firestorm
Further reports deepen the controversy. POLITICO highlighted 2018 Reddit posts where Platner advocated for an “armed working class” as “a requirement for economic justice” and emphasized the need for a “good semi-automatic rifle” to “fight fascism.”
The Washington Post uncovered 2013 posts addressing s–xual assault, including in the military, with Platner writing, “R–pe is a real thing. If you’re so worried about it to buy Kevlar underwear you’d think you might not get blacked out f***ed up around people you aren’t comfortable with.”
He also dismissed military cover-up allegations, stating, “In today’s current climate, when every whisper of a misplaced hand brings down a feature length film, anyone who actually thinks the military is purposefully covering up r–pe to save the career of some god damn [captain], is clearly both an idiot and junior enough in rank or life experience to think it matters.”
Additionally, the Bangor Daily News revealed 2013 posts where Platner stereotyped black patrons as poor tippers, writing, “I work as a bartender and it always amazes me how solid this stereotype is,” and questioning, “There’s got to be a reason behind it, what is it?”
Platner Defends Himself Amid GOP Backlash
Platner has distanced himself from the posts, claiming they don’t reflect his current views. “As I told CNN, I was fing around on the internet at a time when I felt lost and very disillusioned with our government who sent me overseas to watch my friends die,” he told POLITICO.
“I made dumb jokes and picked fights. But of course I’m not a socialist. I’m a small business owner, a Marine Corps veteran, and a retired sposter.”
Republicans, however, are seizing on the posts to question his fitness for office. Samantha Cantrell, NRSC Regional Press Secretary, told The Daily Wire, “Graham Platner is a communist who supports violence against Republicans to promote his radical agenda.
These posts are not just him messing around on the internet as he is trying to claim, they paint a very dark picture of a candidate not fit for office.”
